Trafford Mausoleum with gates and railings, St Mary's Churchyard, Wroxham

Summary

A freestanding mausoleum in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Wroxham, built around 1830 to the designs of Anthony Salvin (1799-1881).

Reasons for Designation

The Trafford Mausoleum in St Mary's Churchyard, Wroxham, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* as the first completed ecclesiastical work of Anthony Salvin (1799-1881);

* as an accomplished early work of the Gothic Revival, employing a scholarly use of Early English Gothic;

* for the high quality of its interior features, notably carved stonework, gilded and painted roof bosses, heraldic motifs and memorial plaques.

Historic interest:
* as a rare example of a Roman Catholic mausoleum in an Anglican churchyard, particularly as its design predates the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829;

* as an example of monumental Georgian funerary architecture presented as a Gothic shrine.

Group value:
* for its historic functional relationship with the Grade I listed Church of St Mary, and the Grade II listed former sexton's house now known as Church Cottage.

History

The mausoleum was commissioned by Margaret Trafford Southwell following the death of her husband, Sigismund Trafford Southwell, in 1827. The design must have been completed by March 1828 when a Faculty was obtained for the work. The building was complete by 1830 when a model of its design was exhibited at the Royal Academy. The model was described in the Gentleman's Magazine as 'a pleasing and exquisite miniature chapel, architecture the style of Westminster Abbey'.

The building is unusual as a Roman Catholic burial chapel in the churchyard of a functioning Anglican church. The period of its construction, between 1827 and 1830, coincides with the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829. Several brass and stone memorial plaques have been added to the interior. In around the year 2000 the entrance to the below-ground vault was closed and a stone altar constructed in a neo-Gothic style.

The mausoleum is one of the earliest works of the architect Anthony Salvin (1799-1881), and his first executed ecclesiastical project. Salvin is associated with the design of country houses in a Tudor style (Mamhead Park, Harlaxton Manor, Scotney Castle, all Grade I listed), with medieval castle architecture (including work on Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, and the refacing of Norwich Castle, all scheduled monuments), and with the repair and reordering of medieval churches. His involvement in the Grade I listed church at Kilndown, Kent, and his more controversial remodelling of the Grade I listed church of the Holy Sepulchre in Cambridge were major contributions to the ecclesiological movement. He designed 36 new churches which are now listed, ten at Grade II* and one at Grade I. His nephew, W.E. Nesfield (1835-1888), R. Norman Shaw (1831-1912), and J.L. Pearson (1817-1897) all gained initial training in Salvin's office before establishing their own important careers. Salvin was awarded the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1863.

Details

A freestanding mausoleum in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Wroxham, built in an Early English Gothic style between 1827 and 1830 to the designs of Anthony Salvin.

MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar walls. Pitched roof covered in metal.

EXTERIOR: A rectangular building standing on a plinth, with pinnacles at each corner and staged angle buttresses with gableted heads. There are east and west gables with apex crosses. Eaves and gable parapets with roll-mouldings conceal the roof. At the east end there is a sexfoil oculus above a blind arcade of four lancet arches springing from bell-moulded capitals. The north and south elevations are identical and have three arches containing blind Geometric Gothic tracery of a pair of cusped lancets beneath a quatrefoil oculus. The clustered column shafts all have bell-moulded capitals. Three steps lead to a west portal with a hood mould that ends in carved male head stops. Paired shafts stand each side of the door, with bell-moulded capitals and hollow rolled archivolts above. The filleted door leafs are oak and each has two scrolling strap hinges with iron leaf-tips lifting at the ends.

INTERIOR: the single-cell interior has elaborate blind arcades on all sides: cusped arches spring from bell-moulded capitals on the north and south walls and from stiff-leafed capitals on the east wall. The arches and the hoods above them are heavily moulded, enriched with bands of dogtooth. Within many of the arches are memorial panels of brass and stone. A stone altar at the east end is in a Gothic Revival style.
The ceiling is a wooden wagon vault with roll-moulded ribs and gilded and painted bosses. The cast-lead bosses display cinquefoils or leopard masks inspired by the Southwell and Crowe family arms respectively. The eastern oculus has armorial stained glass.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES

The building is enclosed within wrought iron gates and railings with spear head finials and larger stanchions.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

228218

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Royal Academy. Architectural Designs and Models in Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. C.1, (1830), 541
Allibone, J, Anthony Salvin Pioneer of Gothic Revival Architecture 1799-1881, (1987), 18
Placzek, A K, Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects vol. 3, (1982), 639-640

Websites
Mausolea and Monuments Trust, accessed 09/06/2026 from https://www.mmtrust.org.uk/mausoleum/trafford
"Salvin, Anthony (1799-1881)" by Richard Holder, in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (published online 23 September 2004, updated 13 May 2021)., accessed 21/04/2026 from https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/24585

End of official list entry

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